How To Use Pictures In PowerPoint To Support Your Argument

Many presenters have the habit of adding pictures to their slides to make it ‘visual’. However, many times these pictures add no value. They are a waste of time.

There are two ways to use pictures in PowerPoint

The wrong way is – to use them only to draw the viewer’s attention. This is the most common reason and it usually annoys the audience.

The right way is – to use pictures to support your argument. This makes your slides clear and compelling.
Let me show you the difference between the two approaches and how you too can use pictures the right way on your slides.

The usual, but messed up way to use pictures in PowerPoint:

I am sure you have seen slides like this in conference rooms…

The presenter had used the picture of ‘a man in pain’ to talk about Achilles Tendon Rupture.

At the face of it, the picture might seem quite appropriate, because it shows the pain of a man suffering from Achilles Tendon Rupture.

But, if you go a bit deeper, you’ll realize that the picture doesn’t do anything to really illustrate the bullet points on the slide.

For all you know, the man could be in pain due to constipation, headache or even due to his lost dog! Such clichéd images make your audience feel tired and bored quickly.

Now, take a look at the alternative…

The right way to use pictures to illustrate your message:

The first slide illustrates the first two bullet points on the slide you saw earlier…

The audience gets a clear idea of where Achilles tendon is located and how the rupture looks.

Here is the second slide to illustrate the last three bullet points on the slide:

The photo clearly shows the swollen leg, right alongside the normal leg for comparison.

The audience quickly learns the problems caused by the condition.

Can you see how the second approach used the right images – the right way to educate the audience?

The one BIG reason why presenters mess up when using pictures on their slides:

When it comes to creating presentations, almost all presenters create their bullet point slides first. Then, they add pictures as an afterthought to decorate their slides.

These pictures naturally end up being clichéd and pointless as you saw in the first example.

The expert presenters choose their visuals first, before adding their text on slide.

So, they usually end up choosing the right images to support their argument.

They push all their explanation to the ‘Notes’ area of the slide. They refer to those notes while narrating their slides (This is where the ‘Presenter view’ option in PowerPoint comes in quite handy).

Thus, they lead their presentation with visuals and support their story with strong narration.

If you are in the audience, you can’t take your eyes off the slides.

The skills you need to transform your presentations:

As you can see, the right approach to creating your slides can make the difference between success and failure of your presentation event.